because, first of all, it was just given to me. i'm part of a members' bible study here in the capitol, and our teacher, scott redd who's the president of the reform theological seminary here in washington, d.c., is teaching this on romans. he gave us this wonderful commentary. now, i've read biblical commentaries before, and they can give you, like, a headache, you know? this one's what i would consider certainly intellectually solid but also fairly pastoral, so it's relevant. it's part of what's known as the bible speaks today series. so it tries to make it relevant to today as well as theologically and historically. with but what i have to do when i read something this wordy is i use my yellow highlighter to make sure it keeps my attention. and it helps me go back and reference it as well. so that's what i'm reading this summer, and like i said, it's

going to probably take me all summer because it's fairly dense. >> what were some topics that really caught your attention in this book? >> yeah, so good question. romans is a very practical theological book, so it's a deep theology on the one hand of the appositiving paul -- apostle paul, but he also writes to a church about correction and what not in some places. i think the thing that's most relevant to me in in that's really enlightened by this commentary in addition to the book romans itself is how, is this juxtaposition of grace and faith and works and salvation and while paul is the solid teacher on salvation by grace through faith alone, he's also quite instructive on what would be expected of people of faith who have received this free gift of grace. and that's a, i think it's a

great theme, trying to find that balance of grace and works. >> how do we find that balance today, congressman? >> it's -- you know how you find it, in my view? go back to the book of romans and keep reading it over and over and over and say, wow, i need to be more gracious toward my opponents, or, you know, i'm working too hard to try and achieve something that's actually a free gift. but then if i accept this free gift, what's my responsibility in response to that free gift if not to pass et on, so to speak. so i think it's pretty good instruction for all of us. and if you don't have to be a christian to understand the value of the teachings on grace and faith. >> how do you find books that catch your attention? >> yeah. it's interesting because one of the things about being in congress is, you know, already really strict ethics rules and laws, and there are very few gifts you can accept. the one gift you can always

accept is a book, and the reason is because it's always educational. so we get a lot of books given to us. we get a lot of books in the mail. many of the books on my shelf here are books that have been gifts either from an author, so like eric me taxis, he sent us his book you'll find right up there that he published last year, that was published last year on the founding fathers and the triangle of freedomming. it piqued my interest. i read his book last year, his biography of bonhoeffer which i think might be the best book i've ever read. deep history, deep theology and then this more contemporary book on freedom that he wrote last year: that piqued my interest because it was from him and it was a gift. i get lots of books from members, my colleagues, who write books.

i feel some obligation to that. i'm not a fiction guy. i mean, i've read a few novels. i can't even remember one right now. probably the pillars of the earth was one that was fiction. but for the most part i look either for something instructional, educational, historical, theological, anything that ties all of that together, that's all the more interesting to me. >> you go into your book gifts as well, right? >> they do. o.k., so every year i give my staff a book. this last -- at christmas time this last year i gave them red platoon which was written by a friend of mine. he receive the medal of honor in i think our first year here, 2013, it was my first time doing, going to an event over at the pentagon. and so it's a true story about his experiences thattenned him

the medal -- that earned him the medal of honor. so i gave that to them. a couple years prior to that i gave them paul ryan's book. he wrote this sort of biography biography/political book about growing up in janesville, becoming the vice presidential nominee -- and this was before he became speaker of the house. so i gave them that, because that helps give them a sense of what makes us republican, how this place works, some of the frustrations of division and extremism. and anyway, so, yeah, so when i read something i really like, i think this would bed good for the staff. -- could would be gor the staff. >> booktv wants to know what you're reading. send us your summer reading list via twitter @booktv or instagram @booking underscore tv or post it to our facebook page, facebook.com/booktv. booktn